Whatsoever
Things are Trueby Pastor Dan
CoburnWhen I was a kid, my family went to visit some
friends as we had done many times before. They also had children of like
ages, and we often played together. They lived in the country and
we went for a hike, also as we had often done before. We got to the big
old barn belonging to an older couple that had gone to live in the city
for health reasons, again, as we had often done before. This day however, we went in. We rationalized
that we were merely exploring, and that there was no harm. We found all
manner of treasures (mostly junk) and became frenzied in our investigation.
Every single one of us knew we were not to be in there, but not a one of
us voiced it. Some of us even took things. Little glass insulators, or
whatever else would fit in our pockets. Then somebody gasped and
through the quiet, I could hear the voices of my Mom and Mrs. Rose approaching.
We were so busted. Both Moms were caught completely off guard. They
didn’t know how to act. They gathered their respective “chicks” and issued
them off in separate directions, trying to hide the shame they felt. Once
we were all in the car, they exchanged pleasant goodbyes, as if all was
normal and I thought to myself: “maybe this wont be as bad as I feared.
Maybe we aren’t going to get it”. I was wrong. We hadn’t made it out of
the driveway before my Mother broke out in hysterical tears. She would
not be consoled. Why didn’t they yell at us at the time? Why didn’t
one of us, step up and say “this is wrong”? Why did Mom wait till we got
home to deal with it? Why didn’t I believe her when she said: “wait till
your father gets home”? Let’s turn the Spiritual Switch. Do you see the
world around us running amuck? Do they not seem to be in some kind of a
selfish frenzy much like we were in the barn? Are you chronically tempted
to join in? If you belong to God, then there will be consequences, here
and now. “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”–Hebrews 12:7. “What
about the rest of the folks?” you may ask; “They get to do what ever they
want, and nothing seems to happen to them”. First of all, Do not envy the
wicked. Now, look at vs 8. (If this fits, then you have good reason to
fear); “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then
are ye illegitimate, and not sons”. (The
King James is actually a little more to the point). Why does God not do something about it now? “You
Christians are forever warning about His coming, so where is He?” This
question has been asked for two thousand years as recorded in 2nd Peter
3:4–“and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation.” Now look at the answer in vs 9. “The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering (patient)
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance”. We got it when we got home.